Slave Rebellion Reenactment

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Slave Rebellion Reenactment will restage and reinterpret Louisiana’s German Coast Uprising of 1811. This uprising was the largest rebellion of enslaved people in American history. The reenactment will animate a hidden history of people with an audacious plan to take up arms to fight for their emancipation. The performance will involve hundreds of re-enactors, period specific costumes of the enslaved rebels as well as clothing of the slave owners, horses and armaments. It will be reenacted on the outskirts of New Orleans where the 1811 revolt happened. Of necessity, slave rebellions were clandestinely organized by small groups of individuals. Mirroring this structure, an integral part of the artwork will be organizing meetings of multiple small groupings of participants. Videos of the meetings will be part of the artwork’s archive.